Copyright Notice

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, at the address below.

Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Monday, 27 January 2014

People
don’t seem to learn from history- you can never get to status quo ante- to what it was before. Dr Mahathir had his 22
years- whether he comes back as mentor and be an indirect PM or arranged for
his horse to lead the country, it will not happen. Similarly, the joker who stakes
a claim as the Sultan of Melaka as well as some others, they forget that lesson in
history. We can never go back to what it was before. The days of absolute rulers
and discretionary rule are over.

The
difference between some of us in wanting Najib to step down as leader of this
country is; one side wants a return to strongman politics, while the other
wants to usher in a progressive government which governs according to the rule
of law and carries out more just and equal policies. The first group wants status quo ante- to what
it was before. What it was before were the halcyon days of Mahathir’s rule. The
tactical advantage the first group has is that it can point to a central figure representing its
particular political preference while our side, sad to say cannot provide such
a figure yet.

Are
we going to allow the return of the good old days of better organized pillage
and plunder instead of the free-for all dip in the teller under the current leadership?
We don’t want status quo ante and we certainly
reject the hubristic government of Najib.

Let
me say at the onset here- the reason why Najib enjoys an extended political
life much more than he actually deserves is because decent people like Tengku
Razaleigh Hamzah, too refined and principled, refuses or is hesitant to move
in. to my mind, he is the only credible central figure able to command
respectability and the widest appeal. It’s puzzling why he is slow off the
mark. So allow me to respectfully remind Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah of the
statement: ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing’.

The
admiration for autocracy is reflective of the general rejection of
indecisiveness and detachment associated with the current leadership.The Najib leadership is not helped either by
stupid remarks from insensitive political duds. Eat less sugar to prevent
diabetes, eat other things if chickens are expensive, use other roads if you
don’t like paying tolls, leave this country for another if you don’t agree with
Putrajya. These are intellectually lazy arguments coming from thoughtless
persons. Why are these confused signals thrown around contemptuously? These
things happened, because Najib overplayed the elegant silence game. He doesn’t have
the courage and conviction to step in and stop these nonsensical sound bites
being spewed. He is not seen as stoic, cool and collected but viewed as
disturbed, withdrawn and empty-headed. There is a large vacuous space between those
ears.

The
idea of an over-assertive and decisive leadership is appealing. More so when
people now realise that Najib leadership lacked firmness and decisiveness.
Perhaps it stems from a taciturn and timid personality who wants to please
everyone. When he took over as PM, one of the advice he sought from a former
DPM was how to handle Dr Mahathir. Imagine that!

Now,
that is a revelation. His idea of managing the country is to please everyone. Things
like weeding out corruption, selecting the best men for a good government was
far from his mind. Using government machinery as a tool to bring about progress
and cultural change.

Managing
the ship of state was far from his mind- pleasing everyone was his primary
objective. He was told to treat Mahathir like a child throwing tantrums- pay
attention and treat Mahathir well and all will be all right. Obviously he
hasn’t- because strongman Mahathir exercises more influence over the UMNO
warlords than just being a spoilt child.

Our
side wants Najib to leave in order to pave the way for the creation of a just
government- democratic, upholding the rule of law, carrying out policies that
give all round decency to our citizens. Admittedly, the problem with our side, we
haven’t yet got a central rallying figure who can command all round respect and
confidence.

When
the ship is captain-less, it is directionless. When the ship of state is leaderless,
the country is aimless. There’s a sense of hopelessness in the air, emitting
the stench of decay.How do we describe
our leader? Only one word comes readily to mind. Hubris: which means, extreme
pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and
an overestimation of one’s own competence or capabilities, especially when the
person exhibiting it is in a position of power. As I have said in an earlier article, after
completing his presidential speech, Najib remarked that he has given a good speech.
Of course it was a good one given the adulation and the usual ululating from a
sanitized crowd. There is a saying attributed to a Greek Philisopher that Whom the
Gods would destroy, they first make mad.

The
Chinese in particular have no limiting sentimentalism to change a government.
They have this cultural concept of the mandate of heaven. When a leader is
blessed to rule, he receives the mandate from heaven. The mandate is withdrawn
when he is no longer fit to rule. The Mandate of Heaven was a well-accepted and
popular idea among the Chinese people. It places the problem of political
choice in a simple manner; leadership is changed in accordance to the giving
and withdrawal of the mandate of heaven. The concept was often invoked by
philosophers and scholars in ancient China as a way to curtail the abuse of
power by the ruler, in a system that otherwise offered little other checks to
this power.

The
Mandate of Heaven had no time limitations, instead depending on the just and
able performance of the ruler. Throughout the history of China, times of
poverty and natural disasters were often taken as signs that heaven considered
the incumbent ruler unjust and thus in need of replacement.

Malays
on the other hand has an inbuilt limiting sentimentalism. They complicate
political choice. We can’t change because who will look after us? We can’t change
because our religion will be threatened. We can’t change because our rulers
will be removed. We can’t change because there is no alternative to UMNO. We cannot
remove Najib because he is the son of Tun Razak and because he has red lips. Whereas,
if we simplify the matter, we only need to evaluate the performance of Najib and
the members of his government. Najib is
worse than sleep-prone Pak Lah.

Just
look around us. We are plagued with an increasing number of problems with
catastrophic implications. As a result of financial imprudence, the government
needs to increase taxes. It does that to finance the burgeoning bureaucracy and
to spend on projects by cronies. That’s all to it. No mystery there. Spending
on welfare is reduced and cut to allow more balance with the government to
pursue other business projects. The cost of living is rising, evidenced by the all-round
increase in prices of essentials such as clothing, food, housing and education.

Now,
those are clear signs, the mandate of heaven or God’s political subsidy must be
withdrawn. It must be returned to us, the rakyat.

20
comments:

We are looking too far & talking too much to bring back too seasoned politicians to run our beloved country when we indeed need not of those. All we need is talented & capable young leader to move our weak & stranded economy & to gel multiracial community back together. We need a leader that presents when in need & walks away when it's time.

Dato, You are giving too much importance to Kuli. No, its going back to ante. If he is a man of principles he would have quit UMNO instead of wallowing in that cess pool.He could have done better had to aligned with the Opposition. Moreover, even if he wants to there is no way the UMNO warlords will let him. I hope you can recall that Kuli was not even able to get a seconder for the UMNO presidential nomination on two occasions. For me UMNO and BN has to go!! Let them be white washed and laundry-ed in the Opposition bench. Let them experience the hardships of an opposition lawmaker.

The lack of quality and clean leaders is Umno biggest problem. To dump Najib and replace him with Muhyiddin, Zaidi or even Mahathir is like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire as far as the country and people are concerned. Ku Li could be a temporary replacement but one is hard to think someone like him can actually manage the warlords, the thieves and the terrorists within Umno. No, there's only one solution and that is to replace the BN entirely.

Sentiments are really getting more pronounced in regards to the slogan A.B.U or A.B N (Anyone But..)N as in we know who or perhaps preference to ALAN BN Najib. (As Long As Not)If we wish to stop witnessing the fabric of our inter-communal relations weaved so delicately over the years , slowly ripped to shreds by Najib and his clumsy ,clueless or without conscience administration

The RM is now 2.62 to a Singapore Dollar and 3.345 to a USD. The emerging market economy is beginning to melt big-time, Malaysia is in the thick of things in this collapsing equities market and currencies.

Malaysia is now being thrown into the economic turbulence like what happened in 1997/98. With such an inherently weak fiscal foundation now, can the Rosmah regime manage this time round?

Leave Coolie alone, he's better off as UMNO Gurkha and all NATO (No action but talk). To him UMNO is bigger than Melayu almost a religion and Melayu needs UMNO..dot. Neither he a democrat nor a stateman. At the end of the day or when the line is drawn all he chooses is do nothing. Pathetic!

We need new leadership with vision and a sense of duty and commitment to all races.He is not corrupted with honesty.vision to the country to move forward.If we cannot find this leadership soon,Malaysia will go bankrupt by 2015.

½UMNO ? If one is given an extention of life, with an artifical heart implant, backed up with rechargebale lithium batteries, don’t Malays and Malaysians deserve better and the best – a clean slate of leadership.

Hallucinating to bring back the Jekyll- Hyde persona as PM - translating into – autocracy ? Despite the other one being young , yet he is re - engineered, the vengeance and background coercion will be gripping in double strength. More to cover up all the holes of massive investments, unrelenting malpractices and a personal vendetta aka kiasu- ness to LKY.

This time the one personwill hold multiple power and money churning portfolios including the AG’s.

Bills will be forcefully passed to amend the Constitution, definitely. Likewise the judiciary, MACC, even the Sultan of Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak will be subjugated by the tsunami of tyranny.

A special task force from MACC to investigate TM, will only be made redundant. The enormous picture will be catastrophic. Remember the lawyers walk ? Forgotten Haji Tun Salleh ? Is the remarkable humble civil servant of the law fraternity not a Malay ? Melayu memang cepat lupa. To that magnitude despite he was critically unwell. Even atheists do not commit such extent of nonsense, but can show inmeasurable good things for fellow human beings except for the gila ones. KEJAM sungguh !

Decisively move out from the intricate generational plots and propaganda of UMNO for the sustainable survival of their elite gens.

More at stakes with the phantom citizens – mamaks, banglas, mongolians ( fair - skinned, mata sepit ) ( how many ) whoever and whatnot , look like Malaysians - yet not - will be admitted into UMNO in recognition of the former’s latest mayhems, secretive camouflage and seditious threatsjust into the new year ?

With Pakatan, form a new council. Malays , rights, religion, cultures are still there as enshrined in the Constitution. Just like all the multi-ethnic society.

Next, why can’t there be three presidents instead ? And a bench of progressive thinking Malay vice presidents and vice presidents from each community in the nation – all with integrity,competence and sincerity.

It is not about too many cooks, it is not about gastronomic skills in the kitchen , good gracious. It is a definite NO to totalitarian – eating the vomit again. But yes there are many cooks to prepare the best cuisine. Likewise many experts functioning well, together will benefit the nation immensely.

Why can’t the true teaching lead our Malays to dismantel his plans of self - immortalization.

Reject them. It is about today’s and future’s progressive consultative leaderships – to be effective and to reap successes for the masses of the multi- ethnic society – in sync with them, to listen hard to expert advisors and the rakyat, to know how and to execute well -brain- stormed sustainable solutions with courage and consistency within and across the board.

With courage to snap out all potential instigators and goons without fear or favor. Also Not tempted by temporal over – indulgence and insatiable material gains.

Break free from all the accumulated, inherited wrongdoings by the goons.

And start life on a new slate with new fresh aspirations – reawakened to continue the legacy of our grandparents and parents’ unblemished faith to do things right all the time for others, to engage more in the muhibbah spirit, to extend goodness and good opportunities to every community in the society regularly – as being recorded for evaluation in eternity.

And perhaps the good TS Ramon Navaratnam ( beyond talking ) could pay a visit with his grandkids to give a four figure monetary gift proportionately ... to an utmost good Malay, Encik Ismail Ibrahim from Bagan Lalang ( now where is its geolocation ? )

Despite being paralysed after he was knocked down by a car recently …. he still called a young columist, navel grazer from the Star, who is struggling with uncertainty ... to encourage her to press on and he wants to extend muhibbah spirit.

Such a good Malay amongst the many incredibly sincere and good Malays to the nons in the nation. He deserves fervent prayers of blessings for him and his family, yes ?

Oh God must bless us with many opportunities to make plentiful of money, ( so that those with savings for retirement will not face depletion whilst those in the middle income bracket will earn much to have have some credible savings ) good health, great happiness, wonderful friendship, great peace and generosity to assist the poor this year.

I Gotta work harder as an ordinary professional and save more ( eat kangkung as staple diet Huh ?! ) Then I can send substantial gifts to him and his lovely wife to celebrate life a bit, serious. What about you ?

huh, the horse is fed with kangkung ? what creativity... looks like they are competing with the many’s frequent diet of eating ( mana ada superstition ) the humble vegetable is really tasty when cooked with fiery sambal belachan.

Ku Li is like a man whose house is on fire and waits for all the pails to be filled before he starts to put out the fire. He should instead grab the PM position first to solve the country's woes before thinking about the Council thing.

Dato, you said it so perfectly with regard to the Heaven mandate thing. When a person is given power to govern, it does not mean that this power is perpetual. If that person does a poor job, such power will be withdrawn through the disregard to authority by the people (the fear is taken away).

A leader is expected to be an example to his people, do good, be just in all his actions.

If a leader is the opposite of the above (and corrupted),all of which is against the commandment of Allah, then his power will be taken away.

It is therefore rubbish to say that UMNO is given perpetual power to govern the country when they are corrupted from top to bottom, does a lot of unjust things, tell lies, cheat and steal etc.

I can see their power now being slowly taken away and the GE14 (or even before) will be their last days in power.

½As the right to opinion…. In retrospect, the chronology of the political conspiracy by the tyrant on Anwar… I have my finesse and principles to continue giving respect to Anwar and his family.

Now I put it across as there is someone with an insatiable hunger for high order and top hierarchy. And Azmin had the chances of a lifetime to implant “ self - engineered evidences ” on the walking mattress. As such, the wife is innocent as she should be . BIG bucks are at work. The family dishonor is temporal as with time, people forget , the consistently putting on his “surgerised naiveté looks “, can fool many, he might even pass the polygraph tests but the non- active eye – contact gives away.

Not even the closest persons have the access to the unseen loops in the privacy of the soul and heart. The devils’ workshop, vengeance, greed and betrayal is never out of business for unprincipled politicians and leaders ?

So the “ super elephant gluing “ and the “fearful” gratitude. A vulnerable ground for blackmailing for another’s vast personal interests and a team of former great might. Conspiracy is not plucked from the thin air.

As in any damned leadership, it sets the foreplay of impending disasters and abuse of immeasurable productive time, state coffers, uncompromising values, laws and order, logistics, good and outstanding human resources.

Then came the saga of the Gate Crashing at Bersih rally, its vehement denial and putting the youngsters and the seniors who sacrificed so much in wanting a clean, transparent, and true democracy in 14 th to usher in a new clean government at high risk.

By putting one foot in PK camp and another in the shady “ komplot “ , either outcome in the Kajang by - election, the blackmailer will ascend to power, and his small inner circle will be resurrected as re-engineered “ legalized “ plunderers again.

In rewriting the history for our beloved nation with fresh new hopes, it is not, “ Et- tu, Brutus ? Then fall, Caesar! ”

Nay, NO Brutuses. But Mandelas is the way to move forward together, as a nation.

And yes, the fall of Caesars and the removal of the ultras are our common goals. No airline announcement of all situationis fine and dandy by a pretty aircrew…. not even by the beautiful girl in trenchcoat in the huge posters in New York, London or outside KLCC. But Sofea’s ( pic ) and profound thoughts will always remain in the best chambers.

And there are already Mandelas –you, we know who they are – the true, hardworking, clean, prihatin, multi- talented young and senior elected aduns in PAS, DAP and PK who have delivered concrete work for the benefits of the ordinary Rakyat. Enough of power crazy leaders !

By schemingly asked the clean and intelligent Rafizi to say things, it is like adding iodine into raw wounds of savvy voters of PK. Hoping for Rafizi and Nurul ( but politics can wait ) to deliberately maintain their integrity whilst the former should just gag ... the big picture to be elected to shoulder bigger responsibilites for the nation.

But to be manipulated to cook up …. so that potholes could be fixed ?! Hahahahaha…..And having to resort to shifting off a very capable, functioning economics doctor with Integrity and delivery in the house ?? C’mon Rafizi, give us a Break !!!

If there is no high-handedness, what is it then ? Huge pride, prejudice, self- entitlement and monopoly ?!

Also” burners” should leave En. Natanial Tan alone to restart his life. Without him, do the fabricators honestly think the urban voters for PK are stupid and gullible ? When ones’ conscience and love the nation is very clear, without causing any harm to the people, that’s it, pack up and move on, with Faith, there are always open windowsl The income earned is justified for the extensive sincere work of intelligence done and the years of unjustified unemployment. Berbilion, berjuta RM ? This writer does not know him in person but reads his articles.

In the cycle of life, everyone will need new chances of recovery as what has been accorded to Anwar by the masses of Rakyat regardles of race and creed for the decades. Also the same UMNO - BN mercenary troopers can come up with all sorts of identity and thousands of retakes as in movie making.

The many exemplary common muhibbah Malays from the farmers, the satay sellers, the many ordinary civil servants, the good Malay employees in the private sector to the elected Malay representatives in the Opposition serving the Rakyat first with sincere commitment – like amanah – bersama Rakyat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum dan agama untuk menabur jasa dan budi yang incredible to Malaysia.

One important lesson I have learned from this incessant wrecking modus operandi if greed takes precedent and remain imbedded in unprincipled leaders over the well- being of the Rakyat, the People ‘s trust and confidence is lost.

Do NOT under - estimate critically thinking voters in the urbans. Many are disillusioned with the high- handedness in PK.I remember flying home to cast the votes for PK with so many others.

This is IT- the last straw.

*******

Unity in Petronas’ Webfilm

Some of us can learn a few lessons from the young team of incredible talents in this year Petronas’ CNY webfilm. We can observe the international class of fresh creativity, the fun hard work, trust and respect in making the film.

The co-ordination, the complementing of each other’s strength in the cast ,the sensitivity at capturing the meaningful core elements of the traditions : timeless unity, respect and goodness in families and generations, the excitement , the right volume of music, the strumming of guitar, the few necessary whispers, the hilarious “snapping” of the suspenders at the precise time, the spontaneous innocent dance then the moment of suspense - the breaking of the chain of the bicycle – and the determination to reach home for the reunion…in beautiful modernity which is very effective and relational. The broken chain of the bicycle is akin to our nation’s much needed fixing - the reconcilation - to speed up moving forward, collectively. What are the symbolic elements in the film and how can they be applied ?

The Executive Producer of the amazing webfilm, En. Ismail Kamarul says, “ I really love the making of this film. As a Malay, it will Always hold a special place in my heart.” I share the same thought fervently. And I take my hat off to him and the whole team of excellence.

And it is also crucial for Petronas to continuously pour back huge tangible investment into the local communities as well as nationwide in sustainable skill - training, very useful tools, resources and follow – up.

Let the youth of such distinction everywhere in our nation inspire the communities to do things better alongside all Malaysians… to fix the broken chain to propel the mechanisms of the nation to work well without any delay.

*** Reading comments on YouTube is a joy killer regardless of how good some webfilms are… skip it.

If there are ideas and time, then writing quite a bit takes place ….. when the trolley baggage is looming to slide again..